The Rise of Tammy Abraham

It was roughly 4 years ago when Tammy Abraham looked like just another caterpillar that would fail to flourish into a butterfly under the drastic Chelsea loan regime. The Blues had been plagued with the reputation of not nurturing youngsters for far too long, but with the appointment of Lampard and in all honestly the implementation of the transfer embargo these Chelsea youngsters are showing just what they can do.

The likes of Mason Mount, Reece James, Fikayo Tomori and Hudson Odoi have all given substance to the argument, but a man that is really putting his stamp on things is Tammy Abraham. The 22 year old has had to endure considerable time away from Chelsea, as many do, to prove his worth. Spending time on loan in his first spell in the Championship with Bristol City, the teenager proved a talent straight away, hitting 23 goals in 41 appearances for the Robins in his first full professional season in the game. His goal tally wasn’t enough to fire Bristol City up the table though, who ended the campaign sitting in 17th, but a mouthwatering stat, Abraham got a third of the clubs league goals in that 2016/17 season.

When returning to Chelsea after his admirable season in the Championship his estimations at the London club increased. The likes of big money signing Alvaro Morata and experienced Frenchman Oliver Giroud pushed Tammy out the door yet again as he found himself in the south of Wales at Swansea. His development would still be pushed in the right direction, as he would endure a first ever professional season in the top flight. The 6”3 forward played 31 times in the league for the Swans, yet half of those were from the bench. He scored a disappointing 5 goals and it was looking as though the top level may just have been a step to far for the promising young talent, as Swansea were relegated to the second tier and Abraham was yet again sent back to his parent club.

Abraham proved yet again that he was a hitman capable of decimating the Championship, on loan at Aston Villa for the 2018/19 season, the now established Championship talisman obtained 25 goals in 37 appearances, wow. Abraham had also help fire Villa back to the big time, something the club hadn’t tasted in 3 years.

There was significant transfer speculation that summer upon Abraham’s future, questions arose, would he continue his conquest with Aston Villa in the Premier League? Would he leave Chelsea for good this time? In the end the appointment of former Derby County boss and former Chelsea captain Frank Lampard was a dealbreaker for Abraham‘s future. Due to Chelsea‘s transfer embargo and the long-term vision of Lampard, the youngster, along with many others finally got the chance they so desperately craved.

And boy did he take it! Abraham is leading the scoring charts for Chelsea with 12 goals already, guiding them to 4th place, 5 points clear of Manchester United in 5th. His strength, pace and growing understanding of the game makes him a lethal presence for the Blues, also possessing clinical finishing in the area and an aerial presence giving Chelsea a vocal point, something they were missing since the departure of Diego Costa. The improvement in his hold up play was evident and his ability to deal with the pressure mounted on him to be the club’s ‘main man’ was taken with aplomb.

Abraham can achieve great things if he replicates the pattern displayed in his career so far, it’s the Euro‘s next Tammy, go show us what you can do!